Fighting Saints Withstand Indy's Charge, Win 5-4
Published on January 21, 2012 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Dubuque Fighting Saints News Release
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Both Zemgus Girgensons and Shane Sooth set a Fighting Saints season-high with four points as the Fighting Saints built a 5-0 lead and hung on for a 5-4 win over the conference rival Indiana Ice on Saturday night in Dubuque. 2,921 fans at the Mystique Community Ice Center saw the Fighting Saints pull within three standings points of the second-place Ice with the win.
After Indiana's Daniil Tarasov cross-checked Kyle McKenzie in the face early in the first period, earning five minutes in the penalty box, the Fighting Saints offense went to work. Milos Bubela scored his first USHL goal early on the powerplay, assisted by Zemgus Girgensons and Shane Sooth for a backdoor score. Soon after the penalty expired, Eric Freschi tossed a puck to the net that found its way through traffic and across the goal line to put the Fighting Saints up 2-0. With less than a minute to go in the period, Girgensons took the puck away in the neutral zone, and drove into the offensive end. He fed the puck to Teddy Doherty, who passed to Shane Sooth. Sooth fired a shot low on the glove side, beating Ice netminder Jon Gilles to give the Fighting Saints a 3-0 lead.
The Fighting Saints kept up the attack in the second period. With a great effort, Girgensons kept a play alive as he drove into the offensive zone. He then fed Gerard Hanson in front of the net, and Hanson scored to make the score 4-0. Sooth picked up the secondary assist on the goal, which beat Dalton Izyk, who had replaced Gilles in net. Girgensons and Sooth then worked the puck below the goalline, with Sooth feeding the puck from the corner to Ryan Siiro, who was waiting in the slot. Siiro redirected the pass into the back of the net to give the Fighting Saints a 5-0 lead.
The Fighting Saints could not hold down the Indiana offense in the third frame. Tarasov got the scoring started with a powerplay goal six and a half minutes into the period. A netfront scramble resulted in a Christian Hilbrich goal a couple of minutes later, cutting the Fighting Saints lead to 5-2. In the final minute, Tarasov stuffed a puck in on a backhanded wraparound chance, pulling the Ice within two. With an empty net, Tarasov completed his hat trick, jamming the puck across the goalline with eight seconds remaining in the game. The Ice were unable to cleanly advance the puck into the offensive zone on the ensuing faceoff, allowing the Fighting Saints to hang on for the 5-4 win.
The Fighting Saints will make their longest roadtrip of the season next weekend, travelling to Youngstown on Friday, Ann Arbor to play Team USA on Saturday, and finishing the weekend with a Sunday matchup in Muskegon. Hockey returns to Dubuque on Friday, February 3, when the Youngstown Phantoms travel to the Key City.
United States Hockey League Stories from January 21, 2012
- Lancers Claim 3-2 Victory in Physical Rivalry Showdown with Lincoln - Omaha Lancers
- Storm Rain on Hawks Road Trip - Waterloo Black Hawks
- Fighting Saints Withstand Indy's Charge, Win 5-4 - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- Lumberjacks Come up Just Short, 5-4 - Muskegon Lumberjacks
- Fighting Saints Look to Bounce Back Against Indiana Tonight - Dubuque Fighting Saints
- Happy at Halfway - Waterloo Black Hawks
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